Pithi Kawi Bush Food Garden
The Pithi Kawi Bush Food Garden has been transformed into a beautiful natural outdoor space for the local community and visitors to enjoy. The bush food walking Trail encourages exploration of the diverse local native plants on show in the garden
Nukunu people are the traditional owners of Quorn and surrounding areas including the Southern Flinders Ranges and Upper Spencer Gulf. The name Pithi Kawi (or Pithiowie), is a combination of the Nukunu words ‘Pithi’ meaning bark dish (commonly known as a coolamon) and ‘Kawi’ meaning water.
The Pinkerton Creek along which this walks circles have redgum trees which bear the scars from where the (pithi) were sourced.
This walking trail extends for over 2km running along Pithi Kawi/Pinkerton Creek taking you past the Quorn Community Oval, Memorial Hall and Grandstand, over diggers bridge and back to the Quorn and District War Memorial Swimming Pool to provide easy access to Quorn’s main street (Railway Terrace).
The main concrete path is accessible for wheelchairs and prams. Bordering the path are an assortment of native Australian plants that have significant value to Nukunu people and the local community. The trail and plantings have been designed to showcase the cultural importance, diversity and beauty of the natural landscape of the central Flinders Ranges. Native plants of the central Flinders Ranges are extraordinarily diverse. Many of these plants have evolved to cope with extreme climatic conditions and poor soils. For tens of thousands of years, plants of the Flinders Ranges region have been used for food, fibre, medicine and ceremony. Local native plants continue to be used extensively in modern cuisine to nourish and flavour our diet, and are an important resource for the grazing livestock and farming industry.
Long before the arrival of European settlers, Nukunu people lived on and managed the country all around Quorn as they continue to today. Hunting and cultural practices help to keep waterways and rock holes clean. Nukunu people are reinstating cultural burns to keep hilly country resh and green by using fire, preventing big wildfires by reducing the amount of fuel available. Traditional ways of the Nukunu people followed the seasons and this area around Quorn was an important part of an extensive trading route.
Pichi Richi Pass was documented as a major trading route for Pituri, a powerful narcotic that was traded from the inland deserts and south to the coast. Interestingly, local history suggests that the name ‘Pichi Richi’ may have come from the word Pituri.
Today, many people from other Aboriginal nations and countries around the world have settled in Quorn. Many of the Thura speaking nations have similar language names of plants and animals that are the same or similar to Nukunu words. The area serves as an important educational facility as a piece of first nations history of the Nukunu peoples.